Updates from our Cuckoos

From Greece on the evening of the 22 August, David has crossed the Mediterranean Sea and by the morning of 25 August, his tag transmitted from the North Kudafan region of Sudan – 2680km (1660 miles) further south from his previous location!  This places him in the desert and he will have roughly another 450km (280 miles) to go before completing his crossing. His most recent movement is very similar to last years journey, although he has made the trip across Sudan further to the east. To see this, view David's map and choose 2012 from the drop down options above - this will show both last year's route and that taken so far this year. 

On the evening of 22 August, transmissions from David’s tag revealed that he had left his location in Montenegro and travelled 470km (290 miles) south. At that time he was near the Greek islet, Apasa, to the east of Ithaca, one of the Ionian Islands in Greece.  A further poor quality signal 40 mins later shows him south of Petalas, the largest island of the Echinades, among the Ionian Islands. 

David is still in the south-east of Montenegro and has yet to make his move to Africa. He remains close to the Scutari Lake which spans both Montenegro and Albania and his current position is only 20km (12 miles) from the border with Albania. We expect him to make a move in the next couple of weeks.  

David’s tag is still currently transmitting from a location in Montenegro where he has been since 15 July. In 2012, David arrived in Montenegro earlier, on 27 June, and remained in the area for around 6 weeks, before transmitting from Africa on 15 August.   It will be interesting to see whether he spends a similar amount of time in Montenegro this year, or whether he times his movement for a similar arrival date in Africa this year.  The last transmission received was a couple of days ago. Could he be on his way now?

From his position in France on 14 July, David has now journeyed east 1010km (630miles), travelling across Italy and the Adriatic Sea to Montenegro. He was the first Cuckoo we recorded in Montenegro last year, arriving there on 27 June 2012 via Germany. Roy, one of the Cuckoos tagged in Scotland, also made a stop here on 10 August. It is interesting to note that David has ended up here again this year, having travelled south to France and then east, rather than east first and into Germany first as last year. As his first stop when he left Devon was very close to the area in France he visited in the spring, while he was waiting for conditions in the UK to get better after his reverse migration, he could have learnt a new route from this previous experience. 

David has been a little busy since his last transmission, moving south and east into northern Italy to the general area in which quite a few of our birds have had a stopover. However, he only stayed here for two days before heading south-west into France. He is now 5km (3.5 miles) north-west of Pierlas in the southern French Alps. This movement mirrors that made by Whortle, one of the Dartmoor Cuckoos, and it might be that the feeding in the area of Northern Italy they were in wasn’t very good and they have both moved to find food, in Whortle’s case, retracing his steps to the last good supply.

Two days after what was to be David’s tag’s last transmission from Wales, new locations on the 30 June show that he was the ninth bird to leave the UK.  The first of the transmissions shows that he also chose to make his first stop in France near Burgundy, while a second transmission showed he moved a further 12km (7 miles) southwest and was in the Auvergne region, to the north-west of Moulins. His journey of 900km (560 miles) has taken him to a location that is just over 100km (60 miles) from Livingstone’s location near Roanne. 

David remains in the area around Tregaron and Llandewi-Brefi that he was tagged in last summer. 

Transmissions from the last few days show that all four Cuckoos which have returned to their breeding grounds are still in their respective areas. They are likely to remain in and around these areas looking for breeding opportunities for at least the next month.We now assume Lloyd has perished in Morocco as there is no reason for him to remain in his current position for so long. Last year, the earliest Cuckoo to leave the UK was Chris, on the 11 June, while David and BB left on 18 and Chance on the 22 June. Wallace, one of the birds tagged in Scotland last year, was the last to leave, transmitting from outside the UK on 23 July, just one day later than the last bird, Lyster, in 2011.